Tag: Awaken Realms

The Weekly LIVE 233 – Tales of the Valiant Starter Set, Ninja Division Bankruptcy, Daggerheart Public Playtest, AI Puerto Rico and Heroscape Returns

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Steamforged Games and Kobold Press have teamed up to develop a new Starter Set for the Tales of the Valiant 5E Fantasy RPG, a project building upon the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rules. While details about the contents of the set are currently scarce, the collaboration aims to enhance the introductory experience for new players. Both companies are renowned in the tabletop gaming industry, and their joint effort seeks to make tabletop roleplaying more accessible.

Ninja Division, a miniatures game publisher, has filed for bankruptcy, leaving thousands of Kickstarter backers without their pledged rewards.

Daggerheart, a beginner-friendly fantasy RPG from Critical Role’s Darrington Press, has launched its public playtest, offering players a chance to experience its original gameplay mechanics before its full release in 2025.

Awaken Realms withdrew AI-generated promotional images for its Puerto Rico 1897 Special Edition crowdfunding campaign after Ravensburger, the game’s licensor, intervened. The campaign faced criticism for its use of AI-generated artwork. Despite this setback, the campaign replaced the images with a blurred version of the box cover from a previous release of Puerto Rico 1897 and a plastic sculpt of a ship. The remaining campaign imagery featured photography from Awaken Realms’ previous project with Ravensburger, Castles of Burgundy.

Renegade Game Studio revived Heroscape with a new master set and starter kit, addressing past failures in the game’s relaunch by offering lower-priced options and emphasizing organized play. The new releases for Heroscape include both painted and unpainted miniatures, providing options for players and collectors alike.

#talesofthevailant #daggerheart #ninjadivision #heroscape

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The Weekly LIVE 210 – AI Art Backlash, Tainted Grail RPG, Ad Astra and Cohors Cthulhu

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FryxGames CEO, Enoch Fryxelius, defends the use of AI in the Terraforming Mars project on Facebook. The company’s next board game, “Fates,” will not include AI, addressing concerns raised in an interview transcript by Polygon. Fryxelius emphasizes that AI was used for artwork in Terraforming Mars but assures that no jobs were lost, though he acknowledges potential impact on illustrators. The next game, “Fates,” will feature exclusively human-made graphics, with a focus on paying a living wage to illustrators.

Tainted Grail, a dark fantasy board game, is getting a tabletop RPG adaptation called “Tainted Grail: Song of a Dying World.” The RPG, based on the Shadows of Esteren system, explores the world of Avalon and introduces new characters known as Guardians of Avalon. The game system emphasizes roleplaying, character progression, and includes mechanics from the original board game. The RPG is being developed by Studio Agate, with a crowdfunding campaign planned for November.

Free League announces the expansion “Ad Astra” for the Mutant: Year Zero tabletop RPG. The expansion takes players from Earth’s surface into orbit, introducing a space-themed campaign. A pre-order for Ad Astra is available, offering early access to a full PDF ahead of the physical release next year. In addition to the expansion, there is a reprint of all Mutant: Year Zero core books, including Mutant: Mechatron.

Modiphius Entertainment introduces Cohors Cthulhu, a game using the 2d20 system, set in ancient Rome. Changes to the system include the addition of the attribute “Gravitas” for serious and dignified actions. The focus shifts from firearms to melee weapons, with a robust combat system and hidden facets of player characters. Cultural and caste choices play a crucial role in character development within the context of ancient Rome.

 #strongholdgames #taintedgrail #adastra #YZE #cohorscthulhu

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Dragonbane Actual Play Episode One:
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The Weekly LIVE 144 – Mantic Boardgames, Backerkit Launches, Troll Trader Statement and Saudi Arabia Embrace

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Mantic Games has announced that they will launch a new Boardgames Division. This will focus on family-friendly and licensed-IP games. They want to be able to create projects that will be crowd-funded on Gamefound and will be one and done including expansions that are funded. The idea is to free them from one the wargaming space and also to make games that will lead players to the existing Mantic IPs.

BackerKit posts a surprise announcement that they are in beta as a full-fledged crowdfunding platform. They will officially launch in 2023 and already have over 30 companies committed to the platform. This includes Cephalofair Games, creator of the popular Gloomhaven and Frosthaven games. Isaac Childres, owner of Cephalofair, stated concerns over the announcement by Kickstarter to embrace blockchain technology that precipitated the move. BackerKit tools will still be available to Kickstarter campaigns.

We were contacted by Louis Simspon, managing director of Troll Trader, telling us that our discussion of the circumstances of the closure of Secret Weapon Miniatures was completely incorrect. He referred us to a statement posted by his company and the details when compared to the Secret Weapon Kickstarter update posted by Justin McCoy, nothing matches up. The truth lies somewhere in between. We under no circumstances want to damage the reputation of Troll Trader by our discussion. They are a company I have personally bought from in the past. The details are quite interesting so we will discuss them.

Following up on last week’s announcement, we get a statement from the CEO of Embracer Group explaining why Saudi Arabia is a good business partner and how they discussed difficult topics prior to this investment. So we have nothing to worry about and money is money so keep feeding that machine. Just remember to wipe off the blood and human rights abuses!
#manticgames #trolltrader #embracergroup

Interview with Ronnie Renton of Mantic:
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TTCombat Statement about Secret Weapon Miniatures:
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The Weekly LIVE 135 – Beyond the Gates of Antares 2E, Hasbro Buys D&D Beyond, Pathfinder 5E, Fearsome Wilderness RPG and 40k Birthday Cards

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Beyond the Gates of Antares created by Tim and Rick Priestley and published by Warlord Games is being discontinued. The miniatures will continue to be produced by Skytrex. The game will get a free second edition from the original creators and a new website to support the game separate from Warlord. So players of the game are not being abandoned and thankfully the games remains in the hands of its creators.

Hasbro buys D&D Beyond from Fandom for almost $150 million. This will create more of an ecosystem for Wizards of the Coast to offer digital materials for the game and also collect valuable data from its players. Both the president of Hasbro and Wizards are former Microsoft executives, so this first major purchase of a digital platform is not surprising. D&D Beyond will retain its original management and continue as usual with the only change being the oversight of Hasbro. The only missing piece of the puzzle is a virtual tabletop. Will Roll20 be next?

A quick side note. We missed the news a few weeks back that Paizo will be converting one of their Pathfinder Adventure Paths, Abomination Vaults, for Dungeons and Dragons 5E. Is this just an attempt by Paizo to reach a wider audience and boost the sales of their adventures or does this mean the beginning of the end for Pathfinder? According to Roll20 session data Pathfinder has slipped considerably in recent years with D&D accounting more than 50% of online game sessions.

Fearsome Wilderness is an RPG using the Year Zero Engine about a prison ship that crashes on a densely wooded planet inhabited by unnatural fearsome critters of American lumberjack folklore. The horror is compounded by the fact that waking up from such an extended period of hibernation can do strange things to the mind. A free trial version of the game is available on DriveThruRPG.

Tainted Grail, the boardgame by Awaken Realms, is getting a sequel called Kings of Ruin. The sequel will be crowdfunded on Gamefound, their tabletop funding platform that launched earlier this year. The original game that was released in 2018 the biggest Kickstarter of that year, raising over $6.4 million and is now getting a second edition as part of this release. The new edition of the game promises more refined mechanics and gameplay with additional storylines. Hopefully this will help them establish Gamefound as a legitimate alternative to Kickstarter.

And finally, Games Workshop is partnering with Moon Pig to bring us licensed Warhammer 40k custom birthday cards. Emperor Preserve Us!

Gates of Antares 2nd Edition website:
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Idle Red Hands Weekly 016: Rules of Improv, Defying the GM, Styles of TTRPGs, Monsterhearts RPG, Etherfields by Awaken Realms

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The four rules of improvisation. Collaborative storytelling in the Monsterhearts RPG. Defying the Gamemaster. Player agency and narrative in videogames and tabletop games. Styles of tabletop roleplaying games, “roll” versus “role” playing. The final session of the Alien RPG Cinematic Adventure. Etherfields Kickstarter by Awaken Realms.

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Etherfields Kickstarter:
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Video: Nemesis Unboxing

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The latest Awaken Realms miniatures boardgame, Nemesis, has the very familiar sci-fi setting of a crew stranded on a xenomorph infested space ship. Although it is cooperative, each player has both a personal and corporate secret agenda that are part of their victory conditions. So when a player tells you that the engines are working or that you are totally headed to Earth, you might want to see for yourself. High-quality components and gorgeous miniatures make this game worth checking out. Don’t believe me? Watch the unboxing!

Is that a xenomorph egg in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?